Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Diamond Bet, a popular online gambling brand that has its own casino, poker portal and sportsbook and runs on the Microgaming software, recently announced a merger with Tell Gaming, another operator that runs on the Microgaming platform. Both the casinos have merged into one enterprise and will be operating under the more popular brand name of Diamond Bet.

Alexander Stevendahl, the Chief executive officer at Diamond Bet commented on the issue stating, “We will continue to run DiamondBet in the same spirit as Tell has been run. Our focus will not only be on continuing their appreciated and swift support, but also to make sure that players get the best value when it comes to promotions and campaigns…We will stay on the old Tell-path, where our goal is to create winners and create the best possible value for our players.”

Both companies catered to the Swedish gaming market. Punters using Tell Gaming will not be disappointed with the new enterprise of Diamond Bet, as the site will be incorporating the software’s Liga Football sports betting pools. These betting pools were very popular at Tell Gaming and will be offered at the new site in the form a separate portal. Liga Football betting pool allows punters to pick their own soccer team, by selecting players from the English Premier League. The betting costs only €11 and rewards players based on how many points their team scores.

Players and punters looking to go to the Tell Gaming site will find themselves redirected to the Diamond Bet website. The new site will be accessible from the DiamondBet.com site and is expected to draw in a lot of player traffic. As part of the merger campaign, the new Diamond Bet site will be launching interesting promotions and generous offers such as bigger jackpots, lucrative tournaments and new games. “Our focus will not only be on continuing its appreciated and swift support but also to make sure that players get the best value when it comes to promotions and campaigns,” added Stevendahl.

Way back in December I reported that both Full Tilt and Pokerstars will be rolling out big changes in 2010. Structures to tournaments, minimum buy ins for cash games, and many fixes for frustrating players who win a big hand after only sitting at the table for a short period, then leave. Well, Pokerstars has followed through on those changes and here is a summary of what they actually implemented. Check and see what the speculation was back then!

Cash Game Buy Ins
Poker is a game of constantly evolving strategies. One strategy that evolved, and became a huge annoyance to most players, was the “hit n run” attack or “short stacking”. A player buys in for the table minimum and waits for a big hand. Will usually get as much money in the pot as possible (and because they bought in for the minimum it’s usually an “All in”) and as soon as they win their money, they’re gone. An easy double up with little to no strategy.

Pokerstars has decided to roll out three tiers of cash games. A 20-50 big blind, a 40-100 big blind and a 100-250 (with antes) big blind model is now the norm at Pokerstars. This means that the table maximum is now much closer to the table minimum, and will create a more balanced game. I’m not 100% sure how i feel about this, as it’s well accepted strategy to buy in for the table max and bully suckers who only buy in for the minimum (maybe bully is the wrong word…), but for now at least they’re attempting to get this problem under control. They have also increased the minimum amount of time to re-sit at a table with fewer chips than you left with from 30 min to 60 min.

Tournament Changes
Probably the most notable change to the tournament structure at Pokerstars is the addition of the “Knockout” SnG tourney. In live poker land, we call these “Bounty” tournaments, and i quite enjoy them. For every $10 SnG you sign up for, 8 will go to the main pot, and a $2 bounty is placed on everyone’s head. The more people you Knockout, the more money you potentially earn. Easy. And a lot of fun, but be careful, i often run Bounty Tournaments at my house, and often hear “man, that bounty is up for grabs..i wouldn’t normally call with this, but it’s not that much more.” If you hear that, either a savage bad beat is on the way, or you just shouldn’t be calling with those cards.

There is a rumor that Pokerstars will roll out Gender restricted tournaments in the future, but i don’t see how they could enforce this. Would you create a female profile simply to play exclusively female players? Yeah, me too.

There are a few other Misc changes, but nothing as noteworthy as the above. So, are you excited to play a KO tournament?

No, they aren’t stealing market share from Pokerstars or Full Tilt, but they are adopting some of the “industry standards” that both major sites have rolled out over the past few months. 

This week UB and Absolute Poker are both unveiling synchronized breaks.  The breaks will occur at 55 min past the hour, and have a few differences when compared to Full Tilt and Pokerstars.  There will be no synchronized breaks during late registration tourneys , any tournament in the first blind level, turbo and ultra turbo in the first 2 blind levels, and multi-table sit and goes.  There is an additional 3 minute break at the end of a rebuy period.

Ultimate Bet and Absolute have also changed how their “Raise” button works. The button has been renamed to “Raise To..” and instead of the player having to account for their original bet (Which is already on the table) the software takes that into account and you just need to enter the amount you want to raise. 

These changes seem to keep Ultimate Bet and Absolute in line with what’s going on in the online poker world, and keeps them competitive.  They have also listened to their higher stakes “Grinders” and are rolling out more Saturday tournaments that are in line with their game play.  This Saturday the $320 buy-in tournament is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm ET on Saturday and comes with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. It follows a deep stack structure.

Head on over to Ultimate Bet and try out their new “Raise To” Button! 

OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!!

As someone that used to love watching the show, I noticed tonight that PKR Poker.com had Deal or No Deal for REAL MONEY online!  You can wager from $0.50 to $100 and the max you can win is $1000 (so the odds aren’t the greatest) but man is it fun!  As you can see from the image below, I opted for the $10 version of the game.

To start the game off, you pick one box (which is your box – just like on the show) then start selecting boxes (again just like the TV show).  You want to try and eliminate the lower number boxes first (obv) then the offers from the banker will go up.  The offers aren’t the greatest, but the risk is pretty low too so I guess you can’t expect huge payoffs from the game.

I played 6 games total and only lost on one of them:

Anyway, just thought I would mention that there are other fun games to degen away at online and as a big Deal or No Deal fan, I know this will probably be trouble for me.

If you want to check it out visit PKR.com and look under the GAMES section.

Graham

18 year olds rejoice! Well, not quite yet. It is true though that because of the tough economic times, the big wigs that grease the wheels in Las Vegas are thinking about it.

When asked about lowering the legal gambling age in Vegas to 18, the State Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander and Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Hernhard were open to the idea. The duo are asking the new Senate Majority Leader, Steven Horsford for review.

Of course, this is going to raise many debates about the fact that it will open up a new world to 18 year olds that have never gambled before (obv never heard of Internetz Pokers). Alcohol will come into the arguments as well since it’s going to be difficult to now card everyone that walks in the door of a casino as well as when they’re seated at a table before serving them drinks.

What’s interesting is that the law actually could pass relatively quickly. Since it’s a state law and not a national law, they could sign it into legislation before next summer. Let’s just not pack our bags just yet, though. We’ll follow this and report on any updates as they occur.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1272307,CST-NWS-nevada11.article

Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas recently announced the launch of their new poker room (or “poker lounge” as they prefer to call it). As the newest poker lounge in Las Vegas, they will definitely redefine what a poker room is for local pros and tourists.

If you have ever been to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, you will know that it is probably one of the best party places in town. It is a favorite hangout for celebrities and is constantly featured in hot TV show’s like Entourage. The party never stops at the Hard Rock, which is indicated in the slogan above the doors: “If this house is rockin’, don’t bother knockin… Come on in!”.

Since the average age of poker players has dropped significantly from old men like Doyle Brunson to new young phenomenoms like 18-year old (I think he turned 19 the other day actually) Mike MacDonald, poker players have become more of a partying crowd. The younger generation busts there ass all day at the poker tables and hits the clubs at night, often finding themselves in trouble at the poker table the following day.

The Hard Rock understands the new generation of poker players, and has made a $30 Million investment to cater to them. The 7500 sq ft poker room features things like ipod docks, cushy and spacious tables, semi-private VIP rooms, bottle service, buffet service and much more. All in an effort to let the party that usually happens after the poker game, enter the poker room. By doing this, they will easily become the coolest poker room in Vegas overnight.

Here are some pics of the new poker lounge:

Last week they had a star-studded launch for the poker room. Here is a video of some of the players being interviewed on their thoughts of the new room: